jon and kate plus 8

For four seasons, the TLC reality series 'Jon and Kate Plus Eight' offered viewers a glimpse into the busy lives of Jon and Kate Gosselin, parents of adorable sextuplets and two older siblings.

The series was popular but never penetrated the pop culture like 'American Idol' or 'Survivor' -- at least until the tabloids began speculating about Jon's alleged cavorting with women who weren't his wife. Within weeks, the state of the Gosselin marriage was a cover story on every magazine at the supermarket checkout stand, and a topic of discussion on 'Entertainment Tonight' and its countless clones.

For those who were unaware, Jon Gosselin, of Jon & Kate Plus 8 fame (or rather, infamy), had his New York City apartment ransacked during the holiday weekend. Evidence points to his new ex-girlfriend Hailey Glassman. Glassman is stating that Gosselin did it himself for publicity.

The first question is: why would Jon Gosselin need publicity? This isn't the Balloon Boy family. He's got a fleet of paparazzi following him and he gets plenty of publicity whether he wants it or not. I feel kind of bad for Gosselin since he's starting to have a string of high-profile sour relationships.

This whole situation smells of bitter ex-girlfriend. If Gosselin needed additional publicity, all he would need to do is have sex with one of the Kardashians or perhaps one of the female cast members of Jersey Shore and let the tape "accidentally" fall into the hands of the press.

So want to know who got the house and who got the kids? Here's an update for ya: WHO CARES?!? The couple have no mind-grating show, no equally mind-grating presence on so-called news shows and now no quadruply mind-grating marriage to tempt the press with at every corner. It's finally over ... right?

Granted, I'm making a joke with the "Round 312" thing. It only feels like Round 312. However, the legal fight between Jon Gosselin and TLC, the network that made him famous, is going to a Maryland courtroom. TLC wants Gosselin to stop making media appearances and Gosselin argues that his job as a "media personality" is his sole source of income.

Yes, Jon Gosselin's career is now that of "media personality". While in the courtroom, I sincerely hope that the judge orders a psychological test on Mr. Gosselin to determine his fitness as a parent. Honestly, I don't even know who to side with in this divorce. Both of them seem like unfit parents these days.

For example, if Gosselin didn't want his children to be exploited on television, why star in a reality television show in the first place? Is "media personality" even a career? Can one put the title on a W2 form? Sound off in the comments.

As Barbara Walters prepares to show viewers her annual list of the 10 Most Fascinating People of the Year (pictured, featuring Lady Gaga and Walters) in a special airing tonight, we realized that TV gives far too much airtime to people at the other end of the spectrum. With that thought, here are the year's 10 least fascinating people on TV. Let's all try to make it a New Year's resolution that we won't be talking about these people's overexposure again a year from now.

If you've ever watched The Soup or Community, you know what a (hot) genius Joel McHale is. But while his scruffy mug tends to get all of the credit for the funny that The Soup constantly brings, I've got to give it up for the video editors on staff for this one.

Now that Jon and Kate is off the air, TLC is scrambling to figure out what mildly offensive reality concept it's going to use to win over America once again. Instead of coming up with an entirely new concept (because, let's face it: ideas are hard), The Soup posits that TLC is just going to combine all of their already successful shows into one.

TLC has decided to build their success on little people, tattoos, pageant kids, cake shows and folks who have way too many babies, so let's just cut the crap and give the people what they want. In this case, the people want Fertile Little Tattooed Pageant Parents Who Enjoy Baking.

For those of you who have not left your cave in the last month, Jon & Kateofficially left the airwaves last Monday thereby stitching the hole that its pure evilness created in the annals of time and space and staving off the unholy apocalypse. And in case your wondering, no, I never liked the show.

Marking an emotional end to a tabloid-fueled series, 'Jon and Kate Plus 8' garnered 4.3 million viewers for the series finale. The episode aired this past Monday night on TLC. The finale showed a stark drop from ratings garnered for TLC during its season premiere episode, according to the New York Times.

The fifth and final season of 'Jon and Kate Plus 8' started off with a bang, given the news that Jon and Kate Gosselin had commenced divorce proceedings. The premiere broke records for TLC with 9.8 million viewers, giving the network its best ratings night ever.

Last night was the series finale of Jon and Kate Plus 8 and the show ended as if it was any season finale. The family went on their two last adventures while Kate and Jon narrated how they will be good parents. TLC tried their best to put Jon in a negative light, but Jon's media training forced him to make diplomatic statements.

With the divorce, Jon and Kate Plus 8 was cut short. The dynamic between the parents was something to watch, but the real focus was eight children learning about the world and each other in the process. Each started gaining true personalities and by the end, I finally was able to distinguish between Alexis and Leah.

The 'Jon and Kate Plus 8' series finale opens with a shot of an error-riddled sign that Jon's legal team posted outside the entrance of their home: "Notice: No film crew or production staff from TLC is permitted on this property under penelty [sic] of trespass. Johnathon Gosselin [sic]"

The spelling errors are something you might expect from one of The Gosselin's 9-year-old twins, Cara and Mady, but by now we know it's the work of Jon Gosselin, putting an end to the TLC show that put him on the map. The Gosselins' struggles to raise their brood of twins and sextuplets, and their reaction to the dissolution of their marriage, has been a dramatic ride that the world has followed both on- and off-camera, but now the saga of Jon and Kate Gosselin is finally coming to a close ... in this particular incarnation, anyway.

What started off as one of the sweetest shows on television ended up being one of the biggest tabloid circuses of all time.
In light of tonight's series finale of 'Jon and Kate Plus Eight' on TLC, we look back fondly on the show's best moments.

Watch memorable moments from 'Jon and Kate Plus 8,' after the jump ...

'Jon & Kate Plus 8' (9PM, TLC) series finale
While the family's trips to a dairy farm and a firehouse might have seemed charming when the show first began, the tabloid magnets that Mister and Missus Gosselin have since become preclude us from finding anything to enjoy about the episode -- save for the fact that (phew!) it signals the end. The end of the constant pics of the party Hardy-ing Christian Audigier fan Jon in our weekly mags? Probably not, but we at least now we have hope. Now we have hope ...

Right now, I'm watching the Hayes family of TLC's Table for 12 chat with Regis and Kelly. It's not the first time we've seen them lately; since the second season of their show premiered, they've been all over the talk landscape.

We're definitely seeing them a lot more than when the show's first season debuted; in fact, TLC seemed to premiere the story of the Hayeses, who have two sets of twins and a set of sextuplets, on the QT last March. The relatively soft launch was a bit of a mystery to me, given the network's love of multiples. I mean, these guys had Jon and Kate beat by a mile, right?

But now that I look back at it, there were two things keeping TLC from really pushing the Hayes family back then: 1) Betty and Eric Hayes actually liked each other (read: they're boringly happy) and 2) Jon and Kate were still a couple. Now that J&K have exploded into a toxic tabloid mess, TLC needed someone to promote, and the Hayes' relative happiness seemed to be the perfect antidote.